PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

Fouch a tavern.
251
And this may be the reason, that if
a habit of drunkenness be ever overcome, it is upon
some change of place, situation, company, or prof~
sion. A man sunk deep in a habit of drunkenness,
\\-iJI upon ~uch occasions as these, \,-hen he fin(ls him ..
~clf loosened from the a~sociations u-hich held him
fast, sometimes make a plunge, and get OUi. In a
matter of so great importance, it is weIr worth "'hile,
where it is in any degree practicable, to change our
habifation and societ)~ , for the sake of the experiment.
Habits of drunkenness commonly take their rise
either from a fondness for and connexion with sorl1~
company, or some companion~ already addicted to
this practice ; which affDrd~ an almost irresistible invitation
to take a share in the L~dulgences, which
those about u" are enjoying with so much apparent
relish and de!:ght: or from \vant of regular employ ..
men!, whicll is sure to let in many superfluous cravings
and customs, and often this among~t the rest ; or,
lastly~. from grief or f"tigue~ both which strongly so·
licit that relief which inebriating 1iquors admini~ter,
and also furnish a ~pecicus excu~e for comp1ying
with the inclination. But the habit, when once set
in, is continued by different motives from those to
which it owes its origin. Persons addicted to excessive
drinking suffer,!n the inten"als of ~obriety, and
near the r{;[urn of their accustomed indulgence, a
faintne~s and oppres~ion circa prtR{~rdia, which it exceeds
the ordinary patience of hunlan nature to elldllre.
1'his is usuall" relived for a short time~ bv a
l>epetition of the same excess : and to this relieF; as
to the removal of every long continued pain, they
who have once . experienced it, are urged almost be­
)·ond the power of resistance. 1"his is not all: as the
liquor loses its stjnlu/us, the dose Inust be increased, to
reach the same pitch of elevation, or ease ; which increase
propOrtionably accelerates the progress of all the
maladies that drunkenness brings on. 'Vhoever reflects
upon the violence oi the craving in the advanc­
{l(l stages of the habit, and the fatal terminatjon to